Posts Tagged ‘Transportation’

In 1925, Cleveland’s Hopkins Airport became the first municipal airport in the United States. Excited about the new possibilities of human flight, in 1928 the Los Angeles City Council allotted 640 acres of land just South of Westchester to build a general aviation field for the city. Lima bean, barley and wheat fields were converted into dirt strips for planes to land and the new airstrip was named Mines Fieldfor William W. Mines, the real estate agent on the deal. Mines Field was renamed Los Angeles Airport in 1941, and then Los Angeles *International* Airport (LAX) in 1949. Over time the 640 acres became 3,425 acres and the former lima bean field grew up to become the fifth busiest airport on the planet.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96KoUqXNYfo[/youtube] At left, behold an arguably fantabulous promo video created by LAX in 1962 to get people excited about the history and potential of their cutting edge aviation center. LAX circa 1962 professed many exciting features: directional signs in four languages; a completely automated check-in system that was “a marvel of speed and ingenuity;” and fancy airport restaurants which all served food that looked just like this. Deeelish! (Click here to view part two and part three of this promotional video)

What could be better than that, you ask?
Why, THE AIRPORT OF THE FUTURE, of course!!!

After the jump we will hop into the future by linking to an even more forward-thinking and totally groovy promo called “1980 IS TOMORROW!”… which features super cute 1970s kids and men in 1970s suits and funky 1970s PSA jets and… OH JESUS, I FORGOT HOW PLANES USED TO BE SO FRIGGIN’ LOUD AND SPIT OUT SO MUCH BLACK EXHAUST IN THE 1970S!!! Damn. I don’t miss that.

BTW, an interesting note… in the latter video, it’s stated that the annual air traffic through LAX was 25 million in 1970 with a projected absolute maximum capacity of 40 million yearly passengers as of 1975. That said, the current annual traffic through LAX is upwards of 65 million people. (more…)